


Personal Apocalypse

by BasslineRaver



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Angst, Drama, Fluff, Humor, Kaiju Hermann, Kaiju Newt, M/M, Mental Torture, Physical Torture, Transformation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-16
Updated: 2013-09-16
Packaged: 2017-12-23 15:24:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/928087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BasslineRaver/pseuds/BasslineRaver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After drifting with the Kaiju Brain, Newt and Hermann find that they're getting a little bit more Kaiju in their lives than they expected. (Tags will be added on as the story progresses.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The first thing Newt noticed when he went to the bathroom that morning was that the irises of his eyes were a bright blue. He leaned in, taking off his glasses and holding one eye open, staring back at his reflection and the bright blue eye that was not that color the night before. At least, he was sure it wasn’t. He knew his eyes were a dull, boring green. He tilted his head to the side, examining his eyes from various angles. He recognized that color blue, that was the brilliant blue that Kaiju exhibited.

 

“HERMANN!!” Newt yelled as he ran out of the bathroom, knocking over half of Hermann’s well-organized things on the sink in his excitement to go out and tell his housemate the news.

 

It was only a few weeks since K-V Day. Hermann and Newt had ended up using their positions to secure a flat in Hong Kong that they ended up sharing. They shared a special connection from the Drift, so it only made sense now to share a home. Hermann had declared that nobody else would want to be around Newt for how disorganized he was, and that nobody else could put up with his presence. Newt thought this was just his way of saying ‘Hermann wants Newt all to himself everyone else can piss off,’ except probably in some more eloquent way.

 

“Must you yell so early in the morning!” Hermann called back from the kitchen, no doubt having his early morning coffee and reading the paper. It was part of his everyday routine and would get very huffy if it was interrupted, usually by Newt.

 

“LOOK! Look. You gotta look,” Newt pushed down the paper, only to stare in shock as Hermann glanced up at him with equally neon blue, piercing irises.

 

“Oh,” Hermann said quite calmly as he set down the paper, folding it up as if this spontaneous discovery was not the most amazing thing in the world, “You’ve had your irises changed as well.”

 

“WELL YEAH!” Newt threw his hands up and started pacing excitedly. “This has to be because we drifted with the Kaiju brain. There have to be something that caused this and look!” Newt cupped his hands around his eyes, “They glow a little bit! I think! I might have been imagining it, I don’t know, but look Hermann, LOOK!”

 

“Calm DOWN, Newton,” Hermann sighed and grabbed his hand, stopping him from pacing. “You are right, this has to be because we drifted with the Kaiju. But this isn’t something we should automatically be excited about. This could very well have a sinister undertone that we should be careful about. You must think about what this could be.”

 

Newt paused to think for a moment as he was grabbed, but not about what Hermann wanted him to think about. At least he had gotten Hermann to stop calling him Dr. Geiszler. That alone was a milestone in his relationship with Hermann. Newton wasn’t much better but it was a start.

 

“Ok, ok, but honestly, you can’t be excited about this at least with me! I won’t go blabbing around and showing it off if it worries you,” Newt stuck his lower lip out, pouting somewhat. What upset him about this was that he wasn’t showing excitement about the biological implications of what just happened. “A spontaneous pigmentation change! That’s amazing!”

 

“Well, yes, it is exciting!” Hermann finally allowed himself a bit of excitement to seep into his voice. “I know you’ve experienced some of my own feelings because of the drift, and you’ve told me that you’ve felt the same. This does indeed seem to have related to the fact that we Drifted together, and with a Kaiju nonetheless!”

 

“See, I knew you could be excited about it!” Newt plopped down in the chair across from Hermann and grinned. “I wonder if there will be any more changes. Maybe we should get some Drift equipment and try again with each other.”

 

Hermann shook his head after hearing that, “That wouldn’t be wise. We’d be stealing from the PPDC first of all. And secondly, it could be dangerous since we are not drifting with a third entity. Thirdly there could be unseen consequences that--”

 

“Oh FINE,” Newt cut off Hermann and threw his arms out on the table, then put his chin down on the table as well. “You’re such a spoilsport. You always have been,” he grumped, “But I can be excited about this and you can’t stop me.”

 

There was a somewhat awkward pause before Hermann reached across the table, patting Newt on the hand lightly. “I won’t. In fact, I am excited about this as well. You know how I am though,” he said gently as he smiled to the other.

 

Newt rolled his head a bit to the side, looking up at Hermann and just grinning stupidly. The Drift had strengthened their relationship from ‘bickering scientists forced to share a lab’ to ‘bickering friends willingly sharing a home.’ He could finally feel the excitement that Hermann was feeling if he focused on it. It was a warm, tickling feeling that was in the back of his mind. Newt looked over at Hermann and could tell he was focusing on the feelings that were not his own as well.

 

\---

 

A week had passed by since the sudden change. There were few comments to the two scientists on their eye color change, some even commenting that they thought they were wearing colored contacts. Other than that, on the outside, there were very little comments or even caring for the color change.

 

When the two got home however, notebooks, tiny flashlights, and other optometrists tools they had borrowed from various places were pulled out and they spent hours trying to figure out why their eyes had changed colors. For all their work, however, they could figure out nothing.

 

Newt flopped down onto the floor, half onto his notebooks and papers. “The only thing I GUESS is that something’s going on in our internal systems that we can’t see,” Newt sighed and put his hands on his face, huffing through his fingers. “All these years in biology, and I the best I can muster is an ‘I guess.’ I need to get better than just a guess.”

 

“You aren’t saying you wish to steal any PPDC equipment to run things such as DNA tests!?” Hermann gasped as if Newt had just said he wanted to steal the Declaration of Independence.

 

“Not a lot of them,” Newt said sheepishly and smiled. He looked over at Hermann who was staring at him in utter shock. “What, it’s not that bad, I only need to get a few things. We can use our home computers for what I have planned.” Hermann reached out and grabbed at his hand. Newt struggled, pulling his hand away, “Quit it, you don’t need to grab me to tell me anything!”

 

“It’s not that, stop moving you impatient dolt!” Hermann snapped. Newt was about to say something when Hermann carefully held his hand and turned it over, tapping lightly on the back of his hand. Newt looked down at the tapping and froze. The back of his hand had turned a dark, leathery, almost scaley black. “This was not here this morning,” Hermann said, “I would have noticed it. I am most assuredly sure you would have noticed it as well.”

 

“What is going on here?” Newt said quietly, looking at his hand. He ran a finger across the black patch, shocked when it had the same feeling as if he was rubbing his own hand.

 

“This is not something we should take lightly, Newton,” Hermann carefully chose his words, speaking slowly. Newt grabbed at his hand suddenly, looking at it, before something clicked in his mind. He reached over and grabbed at Hermann’s opposite hand and then held it up. Hermann had the same patch on his left hand.

 

“You have it too on the same spot I do. Remember, the night we drifted with the Kaiju brain? I was bleeding from my left side of my nose and some of my eye, and after you did, you had the same exact trauma,” Newt said, excitement starting to seep into his voice. Hermann paled as he looked at his hand and then back up at Newt.

 

“You aren’t saying this is related to the Kaiju... Is it?” Hermann whispered nervously.

 

“I am DAMN SURE it is related to the Kaiju!” Newt threw his hands up victoriously. “This is amazing. This has to be something related to it! I am going to the PPDC and seeing if I can get ANY of my old equipment. It’ll give us insight to what’s going on.”

 

Hermann sat quietly, looking at his hand. He slowly tilted his head up, staring at Newt, “Put on a pair of gloves then. If you are going out, you don’t want anyone to see this. It could cause alarm.”

 

Newt was on his feet almost instantly, running over to a closet and digging through his things. He could only find a pair of mittens, but that was good enough. Newt ran outside, mittens on his hands even though it was the middle of the summer, ran to his car, and got in, hurriedly driving off. Hermann sat in the window, watching him and looking down at his left hand. Even as he watched, the black spot got a little bigger.

 

A few hours passed until Newt got back from being out. He carried in his things, various computer systems and other tools. He hadn’t taken his mittens off, he was much too focused on bringing his things back home.

 

“HERMANN COME HELP,” Newt yelled as he opened the door of his car.

 

“I don’t wish to come out!” Hermann popped up in an open window and shook his head. “You will have to come in and I must have a word with you!”

 

Newt threw his hands up in desperation and then grabbed the first box of things and bringing it into the house. Hermann had cleaned up their papers and was sitting somewhat stiffly on the couch, waiting for him. The first thing Newt noticed was that the entirety of Hermann’s left arm was colored black, with thick leathery skin. There were even small neon blue bioluminescent markings along his arm.

 

“You haven’t looked at your own arm, have you? Thank goodness you had your sleeves down when you went out,” Hermann said. He took the box of tools from Newt, who was standing in a stunned silence. Then he pulled off Newt’s mitten on his left hand and rolled his sleeve up. Just as Hermann had, Newt’s arm was black with neon blue spots.

 

“Are... Are we turning into Kaiju?” Newt whispered.

 

“I believe we are,” Hermann said equally softly.

  
There was a dull thump as Newt fell to the floor in a faint.


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days found Hermann and Newt being afraid to leave their home. The reason? More than just their arm was ‘turning Kaiju.’ Patches had sprung up quite fast on their backs, and their legs, complete with small bioluminescent blue spots. Newt’s ears had grown pointy while Hermann’s teeth had lengthened a bit and become rather sharp.

 

However, the worst was yet to come.

 

The day started out loudly as Newt woke up screaming in pain. He thrashed in bed, grabbing the blankets and holding them up close to his chest as he sobbed and howled in pain, curling up into the fetal position. Hermann came running in, breathing heavily as he looked at Newt. He felt the pain as well, but it was dulled and not as strong as what Newt was so obviously facing.

 

“What! What is the matter?!” Hermann sat down onto the side of the bed. Newt looked up at him through his tears and tried to speak but could only sob in pain as an answer. Hermann put a hand on Newt’s shoulder, rubbing gently as he tried to help him through the pain. Newt managed to finally point down towards his legs. Hermann carefully pulled the blankets off his legs only to stare in shock as he saw Newt’s legs had been changed from normal human legs to digitigrade legs, complete with sharp, pointed toes that ended in claws. Newt curled up tighter, confused and still battling the pain that came from the sudden, confusing change.

 

“Oh. Oh _no_ ,” he sobbed as he looked down at himself, “Hermann, it hurts... It hurts... My legs are weird now... and it hurts!”

 

“Shh...” Hermann put a hand on his forehead, giving him a quick temperature check. “I don’t know how much it will help, but I will get you some aspirin and some cool water. You stay right here, and do not even attempt to walk.” Newt just nodded weakly and held tightly to the blankets. Hermann got up, slowly making his way to the bathroom and looking at his own legs. He was horrified that there were going to be changes for him as well. He shook his head. Right now, Newt was the priority. He was in pain, enough to be crying. Hermann had never seen Newt cry before, so that was jarring and upsetting to him. He carefully put two aspirin in a medicine cup, got a drinking glass full of cool water, and then retrieved a wet wash cloth for him to rest on his forehead. He carried the items back to Newt’s room, feeling pathetic and unhelpful as Newt cried. His legs were still pulling and twisting, and it looked like an overly terrible, painful process.

 

“Newton, here. Sit up a bit,” Hermann sat down on the bed next to him. Newt barely could manage to oblige, letting himself get pulled up, his mouth opened, and even fed the medicine. Hermann tilted the cup to help him drink. All the shaking however, lead to more water being spilled onto Newt’s heated skin compared to in his mouth. He got the medicine down, however, and Hermann put the washcloth on his forehead.

 

“I will stay right here,” Hermann’s voice was quiet as he took one of Newt’s hand into both of his own. “You will get through this, you have been through far worse. Remember?”

 

“Uh-huh,” Newt whimpered as he shivered from the pain. “It hurts, Hermann.”

 

“I know, Newton. I will do my best to ease your pain,” Hermann sighed a bit weakly. He hated seeing his friend in such a state that was beyond any control. A loss of control was something that scared him the most.

 

“Rub my head?” Newt asked softly, entire body shaking as another pulling motion tugged at his legs causing him to whimper pathetically in pain.

 

“Of course,” there was nothing more that needed to be said as Hermann reached up and started very gently running his fingers through Newt’s matted, dirty hair. He had showered the day before, but all the thrashing and sweating from the morning’s events had left him in a pathetic, sorry state. Newt focused on breathing, sobs still escaping from his mouth as he did so. Hermann did not fault him one bit for that.

 

Hours passed before Newt was finally able to sit up. Hermann stayed at his bedside the entire time, occasionally getting up to put cool fresh water on the washcloth and bring him cool water to try to drink.

 

“H-hey, thanks, Hermann. Y’helped a lot,” Newt said. He looked down at his new digitigrade legs. He carefully tried to wiggle his toes, finding that they moved just as easily as a normal human’s foot would. He curled his toes in close and pulled his legs close to his body. “Feels weird,” he said, looking down at himself and then up to Hermann.

 

“I would assume so. It’s not something any human has ever experienced before,” Hermann reached out. He touched gently at Newt’s thigh, rubbing a bit. He hesitated for a moment, holding his hand just above Newt’s leg, “If I may give a small inspection to your body?”

 

“Go ahead... S’easier than if I was gonna do it myself,” Newt nodded. He stayed still as Hermann positioned his legs here and there, poked and prodded gently, and generally made sure that nothing was drastically wrong with his new legs. He even touched at the bottom of Newt’s foot, watching as his toes curled up around his hand just briefly at the contact. His touch was professional, though it did tickle a little bit. Hermann took a moment to inspect the claws at the end of his foot, suspecting they were a much stronger material than normal nails might be.

 

“Fascinating. You can feel the sensations as you normally would, correct?” Hermann asked. Newt nodded, pulling the blankets up to his chin as he watched. Hermann looked at him intently for a few moments, before rubbing him gently once more on the head.

 

“You get rest, Newton, I will be in the room nearby, trying to accumulate our experiences and see if there are any connections,” he said. He stood, hobbling a just a bit as he moved out of the room. The feelings of pain that came from his own legs were obviously echoes of what Newt was feeling. It was painful enough with his bad hip and sitting in one place for an extended period of time making it have a tingly feeling along his side.

 

Newt curled up, pausing for a moment to kick off the comforter and then pulling the sheets over his head as he settled in for rest.

 

It was mid evening when the next bit of excitement happened. Hermann was standing in their study-turned-lab room, at his favored chalkboard and trying to calculate the next occurrence for ‘Kaiju-ification’ when he howled in pain. He immediately looked to his legs but instead felt like there was a terrible stretching of his spine. His bad hip screamed in pain when he fell down onto his knees and then onto his hands.

 

Newt sat bolt upright in bed, waking up instantly from his extended nap as he heard Hermann’s cries of pain. “Aw no, not you too!!” Newt pushed himself out of bed and stared down at the floor before gingerly putting his feet down on the floor. He steadied himself, grabbing onto the nightstand by the bed for balance, and took his first shaky steps forward. He hurried as Hermann gave another cry of pain.

 

“I’m comin, Herm!” Newt yelled as he stumbled forward, trying to figure out how to walk. He stumbled once more, falling to the ground before he pushed himself up and finally made it all the way to Hermann, only to have his moment where he stared in shock. Hermann was on the floor, writhing in pain as a pair of long, twisting, ridge-covered tails rested twitching on the floor.

 

“Oh my god you have a tail. Well, tails!?” Newt gasped as he sat down next to Hermann. Now it was his time to try to comfort his friend. He reached out, putting a hand onto Hermann’s trembling back and looking worriedly at him.

 

“Do you want cool water and aspirin too? Like you gave to me. That helped a lot, yanno,” he said gently. Hermann could only nod as another wave of pain wracked his frame, and the tails twitched and spasmed a bit more. Newt got up on shaky legs, and practiced his walking a bit more as he made his way through the house to the bathroom. He paused to stare at himself in the mirror while he was getting the medicine for Hermann. His face looked pale and worn, and he looked generally disheveled, the tank top he slept in covered in sweat. He was thankful he was wearing boxers because anything else would have probably ripped. Newt shook his head to pull himself out of his thoughts as he grabbed the medicine, the glass of water and another washcloth dunked in cold water for Hermann. He ran back in, getting the hang of his new legs as he did. He dropped down and immediately pushed the pills into Hermann’s mouth and got him to swallow them with a bit of water.

 

“Thank you,” Hermann gasped out. Newt nodded and then put the washcloth over his forehead and then dropped down to the floor, sprawling next to him. He very gently nudged his head against Hermann’s.

 

“Don’t worry. We’ll get through this,” Newt said reassuringly.

 

“It hurts...” Hermann whimpered.

 

“I know. But you’re strong too, just like me. You and I, we survived the apocalypse. This is just... Our personal apocalypse,” Newt said, nodding. Hermann pushed up against him, shivering and whimpering pathetically. Newt couldn’t blame him.

 

“Rest... I am going to rest... Right here,” Hermann sighed and pulled his hands up to rest his head on his arms.

 

“Kay. Hey, Herm. Did you figure out how fast this is gonna happen?” Newt rolled his head over to look at his friend. Hermann nodded and pointed up at the corner of the chalkboard.

 

“At this rate, tomorrow morning something will happen. If it speeds up... A-AHHhhh... O-Owww...” Hermann cut off to cry out in pain. The tails grew just a little bit and a small nub on the end of each tail started glowing.

 

“Don’t have to say anymore, that’s all I needed to know,” Newt pulled his legs close to his body and looked down at them. He relaxed, and noticed the soft blue glow from the nodes dimmed. He smiled a little bit before curling up and falling back asleep, exhausted from the day.

 

Hermann pressed his head up against Newt’s. He found the warmth of the other scientist comforting. He was much more than just a dumb Kaiju Groupie by now. He reached over, grabbing onto Newt’s arm as he slept, and held close. He fell asleep like that, comforted by the fact that he wasn’t alone in his strange, terrifying experience.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, both men woke up late and exhausted, as if they had only gotten one or two hours of sleep. Newt sat up, a piece of paper sticking to the side of his face as he did. Hermann rolled over onto his stomach and looked miserably at a bit of chalk that was just in front of his face.

 

“I didn’t rest well,” Hermann stated matter of factly. He reached up and rubbed at his eyes. He barely noticed his tails until he sat up and in the wrong way, sitting on them a bit and making him wince at the self-inflicted pain.

 

“I kept waking up for a minute or so and then slumping back down like I was exhausted and going back to sleep,” Newt agreed with him, sighing, “It was a terrible night’s sleep. I’m sleepin’ in a bed next time, even if I have to carry you.”

 

“I hope it does not come to that,” Hermann stood up. He looked back at the tails, the spots on them glowing brightly as he looked. He hesitantly tried moving his tails, slowly twitching them at first, and then moving them in a large sweeping motion on the floor. He looked up at Newt, who was watching the tails move, equally as interested as he was.

 

“What’s it feel like, having a tail?” Newt asked, eyes wide as he leaned in.

 

“Well it hurt getting it, obviously, as you saw. It felt like my spine was being pulled taut and then some. Then, it wasn’t done yet, it had to expand the mass of my body into it. The tails feel like they come right out at the small of my back. It’s- what are you doing. No, stop it!” Hermann tried to push Newt away but Newt was pushing against him and eventually sat on him to pull up his shirt and look at where his tails were situated on his body. Newt tugged at Hermann’s shirt even more, finding that there were more of the Kaiju skin and bioluminescent marks along the sides of his back. He touched them, making Hermann freeze in place.

 

“Hey, you’ve got it back here too. S’neat seeing it,” Newt said, as if it wasn’t the biggest thing in the world, and that he wasn’t awkwardly sitting on poor Hermann. Something clicked for Newt. He turned and pulled off his shirt. “It’s covering up my ink, isn’t it!!” He showed his back to Hermann, who sighed in an exasperated manner.

 

“Yes, it’s partially covering up your tattoos,” he said and touched the spots to show where it was. There was a major part of dark skin that ran directly along his spine, all the way up his back and disappeared into the back of his head in his hair.

 

Newt lamented over the loss of the work, “You can’t see the great job they did on them if it’s all dark with glowing blue spots!!” Newt paused and thought, “I wonder if I can coax my bioluminescence into taking the shape of a tattoo?”  

 

Hermann rolled his eyes at the idea and then eased himself to stand up, grabbing for his cane as he did so. “I am going to get something to eat. We are lucky we went to the grocery store the day before yesterday, and we have ample supplies,” he said as he limped off to the kitchen.

 

“Well you could go out easier than I could!” Newt called after him. He shrugged and then got up, stepping a bit around before going through the room and picking up all the papers and trying to tidy up the messes. Usually he was very messy, but since he drifted with Hermann, he wanted things to be neat and tidy. When he was finished with cleaning up and deemed it a suitable job, he went to the kitchen and flopped his head on the table.

 

“Whacha makin’?” Newt asked. He watched Hermann’s back as he moved around.

 

“Eggs and toast. It should be enough to last us for the day. We’ll ration our food carefully, as I do not know how much energy we may exert with these new modifications to our bodies,” Hermann busied himself over a bowl, speaking calmly. There was a sudden pause as he sounded like he was going to say something else but instead shrieked in pain. Newt jumped up and started to move over when he suddenly was hit with his own terrible agony, not only echoed from the Drift, but a different torture all on its own. Both men collapsed to the floor, unable to cope.

 

This time, there were no blankets to cover up for Hermann like there were for Newt. He couldn’t cover his legs up to not see the painful process. He watched as his legs twisted, lengthened and bulked up into strong looking Kaiju legs. It felt like each bone was being pulled, and all the nerves were being rearranged. His feet lengthened and the nails on his toes sharpened into claws. It would be a fascinating process if it wasn’t happening to him. Hermann sobbed and clenched his fists, trying to survive the pain.

 

Meanwhile, Newt was going through the process of getting a tail. His tail was singular, and compared to Hermann’s and much thicker. He screamed his pain as the tail got longer and longer, stretching and pulling at his body. The size of the tail made it feel like all of his back was being pulled off and into the tail. Nerves grew out of nothing and were filled with only pain as they lit up and started sending feelings to Newt’s brain.

 

The whole process took about an hour, and afterward, both men lay still on the kitchen floor, panting and twitching only slightly. Newt pushed his tail between his legs, shivering just a bit as he realized it was an actual real tail. He reached down and touched it. Hermann watched him, then reached out as well to touch Newt’s tail.

 

“Hurts,” Hermann whispered as he struggled to sit up, but fell forward on his hands. He decided there was no need to rush trying to stand up. Everything in his body hurt, even though only his legs had changed. His tails twitched pathetically as he covered his face with his hands, wanting nothing more than to have the pain stop. It was as simple as that.

 

“Y-Yeah,” Newt rolled himself over a bit so he could have a bit of contact with Hermann. Just being able to touch the other, hand to shoulder, felt like he was holding onto a railing in the middle of a storm. He shut his eyes and just focused on breathing, in and out, and trying to stop the shaking of his entire body. “Hey, Herm,” Newt’s voice was hoarse from the crying and screaming he did. “Hey, you have new legs now, don’t you. A whole new lower half.”

 

“I do,” Hermann said. He looked at Newt and could feel what he was going for, so he looked over at his cane on the floor nearby. He weakly pushed himself up onto his knees and then looked at Newt, who gave him a shaky thumbs up in support. Hermann nodded and then took a few steps forward, looking shocked as he did. “Newton, there is no pain in my hip!” he cried out happily, his voice equally as hoarse from his own crying, but still managing to sound as excited. He took a few steps and circled the kitchen. “I’m walking unaided!”

 

“You are! Oh man. We should practice walking,” Newt wiggled his toes as he spoke, and then set them down, digging just slightly into the kitchen tiling. He stood up and then balanced himself carefully, his tail stretching out instinctively. He wandered out to the kitchen and then stared at the stairs that led up to their second floor.

 

“What’s wrong, Newton?” Hermann walked carefully over, then looked up. “Is there a problem with ascending the stairs?”

 

“We can’t wear pants anymore,” Newt sounded like somebody just stole all his Kaiju samples and threw them out right in front of his eyes.

 

“Oh. Well, that’s not a problem,” Hermann patted him on the shoulder. “We’ll work around this. Our problems now lie with these new changes to our bodies.”

 

The two looked at each other, and without much warning, Newt put his face against Hermann’s shoulder and let out a sob.

 

“This means I have to wear a dress,” Newt said, still focused on that ‘problem.’ Hermann couldn’t help but laugh softly and shake his head.

 

“We’ll call a grocery delivery store to bring us groceries and then see if there are some clothes we can order online to tailor towards our new legs,” Hermann assured Newt, “There’s much we can do without having to go out and endanger ourselves.”

 

“No dresses?” Newt said in a tiny, pathetic voice.

 

“Well. I can’t promise that. I have no skills as a tailor, and so I can’t alter anything. I would have to acquire a sewing kit and practice,” Hermann explained his position on things. Newt cut him off with a loud, over exaggerated moan. “Oh come now. Stop acting like a child,” Herman nudged at him with a foot, “You can get a kilt.”

 

Newt rolled his head over a bit, looking up at Hermann, “Kilt?”

 

“Yes. A kilt. I will buy you one,” Hermann said, a smile creeping across his face. “It may take a bit longer, you can’t just find a kilt too easily. We might have to get you a dress to wear in the meantime, but I will also wear one. You won’t be alone.”

 

Newt rolled over onto his back, looking up at Hermann, and then to the windows. “We’ll be homebound for a while, huh. I’m gonna slide down the banister when I figure out how to go up stairs,” he said, a grin appearing on his face as well, “Me and my manly kilt. Only manly men do dangerous things like slide down the staircase banisters.”

 

“Oh no you are not,” Hermann said sternly.

 

“Yes! Yes I am!” Newt stood and started to work on trying to climb the stairs with Hermann grabbing onto him, yanking him back to stop him from completing his stupid idea.

 

\---

 

The first hurdle came much faster than either of the two scientists could have fathomed.

 

“I don’t know how to use the bathroom,” Hermann said, interrupting Newt from looking at his tail. Newt sat still.

 

“Well, you uh. You should know this, you’re a big boy,” Newt waved a hand at him. He figured if he could manage it with no problem earlier, Hermann could do the same.

 

“You may say this yes, but there is a problem. I believe my penis is in a sheath of sorts, as you can see, and I don’t know how to get it out. The Kaiju-skin covers it up,” Hermann said quite professionally, while dropping his briefs right there on the spot to show him the problem he was facing.

 

“WHOA WHOA Give me some warning would ya?! Jeez,” Newt threw his hands up, not exactly wanting to see his roommate’s junk. However, when he heard that there’s nothing actually to see, he peeked between his hands, “Oh. Well that’s easy, and you’re right, Kaiju don’t have visible genetalia,” Newt says. “I got to study some of the Kaiju waste systems. You want me to help you out with what you’re dealing with then?”

 

“You are not touching me,” Hermann huffs. He crossed his arms, tails twitching as he did.

 

“I won’t have to. You can go in the bathroom and I can guide you from outside the door,” Newt waved his hand dismissively. He got up, walking to the bathroom and waving his hand into it. “Go on in. You can handle this without me instructing you, right?” Newt smirked, his tone sarcastic but playful.

Hermann followed and then looked incredulously at Newt, before entering in and locking the door.

 

“That wasn’t necessary, Hermann, I’m gonna stay out and give you directions through the door, remember?” Newt leaned up against the wall as he spoke.

 

“Begin, then!” Hermann’s voice was impatient. This was obviously a matter that didn’t need any lengthy explanations on things.

 

Newt helped describe how he supposed their new Kaiju bodies worked.  Herman was somewhat upset when he talked back, not liking that he had to be walked through going to the bathroom.

 

“You’re lucky I’m a Kaiju xenobiologist,” Newt smirked as he spoke and rapped at the door to get Hermann’s attention, “Imagine if I was a number cruncher like you, then we’d both be in a terrible situation. Two grown men not being able to go to the bathroom and being confused about it!”

 

“It would probably be easier to put up with you if you shared a passion for mathematics that I have,” Hermann grumbled as he finished up and paused to look at himself in the mirror. He held up his tails and looked at the glowing parts on the end, and then patted at his thighs, happy to be able to walk unaided. He got to work washing his hands carefully, making sure the claws didn’t scratch his still-human hand. He opened the door and looked over at Newt who was sitting on the floor, looking intently at one of the glowing spots on his leg.

 

“All good?” he asked, looking up when he heard the door open.

 

“Yes, thanks to you,” Hermann sat down next to him. His tails pulled forward and rested across his feet. “I... appreciate you more than I have previously,” he said softly.

 

“Yeah, without me you’d be up shit creek without a paddle, huh,” Newt snickered.

 

“No, and what a vulgar description. I would have eventually figured that out from desperation,” Hermann put his nose up in the air, as if he wasn’t almost nearly begging for Newt’s help a few moments before. “It’s just easier to deal with this situation with somebody else.”

 

“Uh-huh,” Newt leaned against him.

 

Hermann huffed and did the same. “I guess I should be saying thank you then,” he said.

 

“You’re welcome. Now, you wanna come with me and order some new clothes online?” Newt pushed himself up, stretching a bit and then holding his hand out to Hermann.

 

“I did promise you a kilt, did I not?” Hermann smiled a bit as he got up, taking the offered hand. The two went to their lab room, sitting down in front of the computer and starting their search for new clothes.

 

Despite having their own clothes, Newt was excited to get something new. He always was. He checked every day to make sure their shipment of clothing was being tracked and on its way, arriving in a few days. Hermann was more patient, only worried about it when the time came closer to when they would have to figure out how to deal with the delivery person.

 

“You do understand we can’t let him see what we look like,” Hermann said. Newt looked up at him from whatever he was reading on his tablet. It looked like a comic book.

 

“Well duh,” Newt said, “But I already got that covered.”

 

“Oh, do you now?” Hermann’s voice was a bit snobby. “Were you going to share with me your method of hiding our Kaiju body parts?”

 

“Well you never asked,” Newt said snidely, and then got up. He grabbed a blanket, a snuggie that he got as a gag gift, from the side of the couch and put it on. “TA DA! See, nobody can see unless they look down and right at my feet. But you can’t see the claws.”

 

“That’s it. A blanket. That’s your genius solution?” Hermann rolled his eyes. “Wonderful, Newton, I would have never thought of that.”

 

Newt glared at him and then sat down, crossing his arms. “I thought it was a good idea. It lets me move around and still have my lower half stay hidden,” Newt said. He put his head down on his arms as he pulled his knees close to his body and rested his arms on top of them.

 

“You have your methods, I will come up with my own,” Hermann started to say before he started to feel immense regret. The feelings from the connection he shared with Newt were ones of embarrassment, of being upset, and confusion. “Oh, Newton. I apologize,” Hermann said. “I shouldn’t put down your ideas. They are simplistic but useful. Your idea of drifiting with a Kaiju brain did help save the world, after all.”

 

“Yeah, it did,” Newt mumbled through his arms but turned his head away from Hermann.

 

Hermann paused, trying to figure out how to mend this small rift. He moved to sit closer to Newt and then simply leaned against him. Newt refused to acknowledge him for a few minutes, before he looked over and then leaned his head against Hermann’s.

 

“You know, Newton, you’re all I’ve got now,” Hermann said. There was some undetectable emotion in his voice. “Since we’ve changed, that is. I cannot exactly go back to any of my family.”

 

“M’sorry,” Newt said sympathetically. “We’ll figure something out. Promise. Maybe it’s just a biological change that can be reverted.”

 

“Perhaps,” Hermann shut his eyes as he rested against Newt, listening to the rhythmic sound of his breathing. It was soothing. “Even if we can’t figure it out, Newton, if I face this with you, I don’t mind at all.”

 

“Pretty sappy coming from Mr. Numbers-For-Brains,” Newt laughed. Now it was his turn to feel the embarrassment from Hermann. He had obviously shared something important and he had made a joke of it. Newt felt terrible for that. He rubbed a hand on the back of his head and shrugged, before leaning in and then giving Hermann a hug. “Sorry, buddy, I should know better than to make fun of you when you’re saying things like that,” he said in an apologetic tone.

 

“Apology accepted,” Hermann said. “We’re forging a stronger relationship, it seems. We will have to learn the ups and downs of each other’s moods better than we had before.”

 

“Relationship... Y’mean like, kiss-kiss, hug-hug, let’s sleep together relationship?” Newt pushed his hands together as if he was mimicking two people kissing, “‘Cos I’m totally fine with that.”

 

Hermann listened to him and tried his best not to point out his description of a relationship was juvenile and incomplete. Instead, he reached out and took Newt’s hand. “It is that yes, but it is and can be much more,” he said carefully. Newt looked at his hand and then squeezed tight.

 

“Can I try somethin’ then?” Newt asked. He reached up, carefully pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and then moved his hand to rubbing just a bit as his cheek, as if distracting himself.

 

“It depends on what--” Hermann got cut off as Newt kissed him. It was a very quick kiss, and it was only on the cheek. But the shock of the action was enough to mute Hermann. Newt flopped back onto the couch and then turned to the TV, clicking it on as if nothing just happened. The feelings flowed through their connection and both of the feelings were warm and welcoming. Hermann didn’t need to say anything else as he rested against the back of the couch as well.

 

They had each other to get through their personal apocalypse, and that was enough.


	4. Chapter 4

“I’m curious, we haven’t changed anymore,” Hermann said. It had indeed been a few days since their last major change. The Kaiju skin had perhaps gotten a little more widespread on their bodies, but beyond that, nothing major had happened at all.

 

Newt put his hands behind his head as he leaned back in his chair, “I ain’t complaining,” he said, “That hurt like a bitch. Felt like somebody was seperating my vertebrae one by one to make a tail.”

 

“I have to wonder if it’s starting to be more internal changes than external. Unfortunately we have no access to anything that could reveal to us what might be happening internally,” Hermann pursed his lips and went over to a table where they had laid out samples of their own blood. “All I can figure is from these. Our blood is getting more and more acidic at a five point eight percent rate...” he started to ramble a bit about it having a steady change and that despite their sudden changes, this was the only thing that had a steady change that was able to be calculated. All the information pointed to the internal changes continuing until a possibility of 100% Kaiju-ification.

 

Newt tuned him out as he turned to look at some of the things he had found. Hermann wouldn’t go hands on, he preferred the numbers. Newt’s computer screen had a huge listing of biological formulae that he found from his own body and testing various parts of it. Sure it might have hurt to prick open a bioluminescent spot and scoop out what was there, or it may have been painful to stick something down his throat and induce vomiting to see what might come up, but that was the kind of work he was used to. Everything about the things he found, along with what Hermann found and shared said that the changes were slowing down, not increasing.

 

So he decided to argue that with Hermann for a bit. “Hey, Herm, I think you’re wrong,” Newt turned. His tail swished as he moved, and the way he held it gave him an air of confidence. “I don’t think it’s increasing. I think it’s leveling out. I think it’s hit it’s peak and the rest of it is just catching up.”

 

Hermann turned, almost glaring at him. “Numbers do not _lie_ , Newton,” he said. “They are solid facts, unlike what you are doing. What is it you were doing? Throwing up into a bucket for your experiments earlier?” Hermann scoffed, “Quite unprofessional.”

 

“Hey, how else am I gonna get a sample of what’s going on inside me?!” Newt raised his voice. He didn’t realize it but he was puffing himself out to look more threatening, the scales on his Kaiju-ified arm raising. The ones on his back were raising as well, though it was hard to tell with his shirt covering them.

 

“You don’t need to force yourself to do stupid things to get samples. You could try to deduce from what you are able to access without harming yourself you know!!” Hermann stood up, leaning forward and just slightly baring his now-sharp teeth in a show of power and an attempt to be threatening.

 

The two started bickering, though it was a bit more threatening than their normal bickering from when they were at the Shatterdome. Their voices were almost as if they were growling, and both men got right up close to each other’s faces to argue their side.

 

When it became quite clear that neither man would relent, they both slunk off to their own side of the lab, sat in their chairs, and pouted. They were the pinnacles of maturity, Newt crossing his arms and looking upset, and Hermann leaning forward on his hands and staring blankly at the computer screen. It might have been that they were acting this way because of the Kaiju-ification, or perhaps because of being stuck in the house for so long.

 

Hermann thought it was the latter. He sat straight up and then looked over. “Newton, we need to get fresh air,” he simply said, as if a few minutes ago he wasn’t growling at the other man.

 

“What? Why,” Newt glanced over.

 

“Don’t you want to get a little fresh air?” Hermann stood and made his way towards the back of their home. They had a very minor spot, barely considered a ‘backyard,’ that was attached to the home. Hermann looked carefully out and then pushed open the door and sat down in the sun. Newt followed closely behind and then looked at him.

 

“You’re trying to win me back cos you know I was right,” Newt huffed, but sat down next to him as well. He looked up towards the skies, tip of his tail twitching. He sounded sad when he spoke again, “We can’t go out anymore, huh. Or else we’d probably get picked up and bad things might happen to us.”

 

“Indeed. We’ll figure this out though, Newton. I assure you. Perhaps we should contact the PPDC and see if they can help. I read recently that Tendou Choi is the acting head officer. He would be sympathetic to us, hopefully,” Hermann said softly. He stretched his legs out and then laid on his side, basking in the sun. Warmth filled his body up and he smiled lazily.

 

Newt stared down at him and then grinned. “That looks nice. Make space,” he shoved lightly at Hermann’s side, getting him to move over just a bit. Then he too laid down in the sun.

 

“Perhaps Kaiju have some reptilian origins,” Hermann said, “You would know of that, correct?”

 

“Yeah they kinda do... Aliens and all but yeah... They probably like laying in the sun, when they aren’t going around destroying everything in sight,” Newt yawned. He put his arms behind his head as he spoke, “I’m gonna take a nap right here. You ain’t stoppin’ me either.”

 

“I would not even dream of it. I’m enjoying myself as well,” Hermann said.

 

With that, the two took a nap in the sun.

 

\---

 

The ‘fateful day’ arrived, as Newt so called it, when their new clothing arrived. Lots of baggy, very stretchy pants, a few dresses, and of course, a pair of kilts. By the time the day rolled around, both men were very accustomed to their new bodies.

 

Hermann found his tails were nearly prehensile, being able to grab onto things and hold them quite carefully. Newt tried the same but ended up dropping a glass and grumbling while he cleaned up the shards and liquid.

 

However, Newt had different legs, almost as if they were meant for leaping. He scared Hermann one day, jumping up from the first floor to the second floor. Poor Hermann fell backwards onto his tails and was grumpy for the rest of the day because of the soreness.

 

The doorbell rang to the home, and Newt scrambled up from his spot on the floor where he was taking notes on what the bioluminescence reacted to. He grabbed the snuggie and threw it on. Hermann watched, tilting his head to the side.

 

“Good luck,” Hermann said. “If this works, then we’ll order groceries for delivery as soon as possible, and we’ll be set for a longer period of time.”

 

“I know, I know!” Newt went to the door. He carefully hid his Kaiju-ified arm in the sleeves of the blanket and then answered the door. “Hello! Uh. Delivery right? For us?” Newt stammered a bit, looking at the multiple boxes the delivery man had.

 

“Yeah, sign here,” the man said, clearly not wanting to deal with this. Newt looked at the signing pad and then reached out, signing it messily. One could have guessed he signed with a non-dominant hand, but in actuality, Newt’s signature was a mess in the first place.

 

“Thanks, I’ll just... I’ll take them in. You can leave now,” Newt waved a blanket sleeve at the delivery man, who sighed, just slightly rolled his eyes, and turned. He didn’t get paid enough to deal with customers like that.

 

“Are you sure?” the delivery man asked, just making sure so nobody would end up suing him for not doing his job.

 

“Crystal! I mean, very! Yes!” Newt’s eyes widened and he nodded. “You go! Go and be free and do your job, job man!” Behind him, Hermann actually laughed at ‘job man.’

 

With a heavy sigh, the delivery man turned and went to his truck. Newt stood in the door the entire time, watching him. Only when he left, did he and Hermann spring into action, hurriedly bringing in the boxes. In their excitement, they happened to miss one of their neighbors coming out to put a trash bag in their garbage, and stopping to stare as they saw Newt’s large tail swinging around while he picked up a box.

 

The neighbor’s mouth dropped open as she stared, and decided that there was something up in their home that required some careful watching.

 

Newt was oblivious to the accidental slip as he handed another box off to Hermann and got the last of their haul inside. He closed the door, locking it tightly and then turned, going straight for the first box he could reach, using the claws on his one hand to cut the tape and pull it open.

 

“Hey, Herm, here’s that sewing kit you ordered,” he said while tossing the box to the other. “I hope you can get a hang of it, cos I don’t think I could wear pants yet. The tail and all...”

 

“I will be able to get quite the hang of things,” Hermann said, excitement filling his voice. “It’s a precise art, something I know without a doubt that I will be able to handle, bar a few early small incidents.”

 

“Yeah you do that,” Newt couldn’t help but smile. He turned to a different box and opening it up. His tail started wagging. He was excited. Finally, after all these years...

 

“KILT!” Newt grinned as he threw off his somewhat torn shorts that he was wearing and puts on the kilt. His tail is thumping from side to side as he pats at the sides of his legs. “Lookit me Herm. Look. I’m Scottish! Aye, ye crazy bloke,” Newt said.

 

“No, you’re German,” Hermann sighed in a deadpan voice. Perhaps buying him a kilt was a bad idea. However, when he finally looked up from the pair of pants he was thinking about altering, he saw Newt and he saw his overjoyed reaction. Newt was pacing around, actually, it was more like strutting. He was finally enjoying being able to move freely and still wear clothing. “Newton, come here,” Hermann said, waving at him.

 

“Huh? Sure, why,” Newt walked over and crouched in front of Hermann.

 

Hermann reached up and then hugged him very carefully. Newt stayed still, though his tail betrayed his emotions as the tip started wagging around in a little circle. Hermann looked into Newt’s eyes, then gave him a very hesitant, chaste kiss on the lips. Neither man would have guessed that their first kiss with each other would have been amidst half open boxes of clothes. Newt lowered himself to sit down in front of him and put his hands on Hermann’s shoulders. They parted for just a moment, before Newt pushed Hermann backwards, kissing him much more passionately this time.

 

“Newton I--!” Hermann gasped. Newt looked at him for a moment, and glanced down, making sure he wasn’t on him awkwardly. He was straddling his legs, squeezing his legs just slightly against Hermann’s hips. He looked back down and moved in for another kiss. This time, Hermann grabbed against the back of Newt’s head, holding him close.

 

“Oh...” Newt moaned softly into the kiss. His hands massaged gently at Hermann’s shoulders. He very gently grinded against Hermann’s body. Every part of his body was moving in response to being close and finally acting on a few pent up urges with Hermann. Newt’s hands scrambled a bit as he tried to pull of Hermann’s shirt, but was stopped. Confusion flickered across his face as he looked at Hermann.

 

“No, not right n-now,” Hermann said, his voice shaky. “I... It is a bit too much for me. I barely even kissed a woman, much less a man.”

 

Newt’s brow furrowed before he nodded and rolled off to the side. “Yeah, that was pretty stupid of me to do that without asking,” he said, though he sounded very disappointed.

 

“It was, but perhaps as time goes on and we spend even more time together, things might change,” Hermann reached over and patted him on the hand. Newt still looked disappointed, so Hermann took a moment to think about what to do. “Ah! Will this do instead?” Hermann held up a hand and then moved so his tails could pull over and wrap around Newt’s tail. Newt’s face lit up like had just been given the best gift ever. It might have been at the moment too.

 

“That works!” Newt smiled in a goofy, happy way. This way of showing affection hadn’t even occurred to him. He turned, pushing away some of the boxes and then rolling over to hug against Hermann. They lay cuddled up together like that for a few minutes, before Hermann tapped very lightly against Newt’s shoulder. They both got up and then went to work sorting through the boxes. They sat close together though, leaving their tails wrapped around each other’s.

 

A little bit of time passed before either one of the men spoke up.

 

“Newton, will you get dressed?” Hermann asked.

 

“Oh. No, I like just wearing a kilt,” Newt shook his head as he got up. Hermann sighed and moved his tails, untangling them from Newt’s and then stood up as well. Newt patted at his chest, “I don’t get to show off my tattoos anymore so this is what I will do!”

 

“No, you will not. You will put this on,” Hermann argued in return and held up a simple white linen dress. Newt stared at it and then shook his head vigorously.

 

“Nuh-uh!!” Newt turned to try and escape but found that Hermann had grabbed onto one of his ankles. He fell face forward and thrashed a bit, trying to get free. However, Hermann was quick. By the time Newt realized what was going on, Hermann had pulled off the kilt and gotten the dress over his arms. Newt sat pathetically in the middle of the boxes, wearing a white dress. Hermann looked smugly at him and then added the finishing touch, a pink sash that he tied into a bow that sat just above Newt’s tail. The sash wasn’t necessary at all, but Hermann felt it completed the outfit.

 

“There. Now you can’t argue because you’re already wearing it,” Hermann said haughtily. He went about his business cleaning up while Newt sat still, looking about as happy as a wet cat. Hermann had finished cleaning everything up and putting the clothes in their rooms before he came back out. Newt turned his head, looking sadly up at him, only to stare in shock instead. Hermann had also now opted for wearing a dress. His was light blue, though it lacked a sash.

 

“We are in this together, are we not?” Hermann said as he sat down next to Newt. A smile flickered across Newt’s face and he jumped against him in a hug.

 

“Thanks, Herm,” Newt said. “I mean, I like being Kaiju and all, but pants kinda hurt my tail and my legs now.”

 

“I know. I wish you would listen to me when I told you before that wearing something like a dress was more comfortable,” Hermann said, “Now come. Let us cook some food up for a late lunch.” He stood and lead the way. Newt sat for just a bit longer, watching as he walked. He liked that view. He jumped up and followed.

 

Neither man would have pegged the other for being a good cook. From their time in the Shatterdome, they never actually had to eat anything but the meals from the mess halls. Here in their shared home however, they cooked for themselves. Each man had a specialty, and together, they would make wonderful meals for each other. They also alternated cooking meals for each other. The work load was shared! It did make things easier as well.

 

It was Newt’s turn to cook lunch, or rather late lunch, early dinner. He was favorable towards sweet foods, so the night’s meal was honey glazed chicken. Newt ended up sneaking more of the glaze than actually putting it on the chicken though.

 

“Newton, I want fish,” Hermann suddenly said. Newt looked up and over at him from the cooking and tilted his head to the side.

 

“You hate fish though. Or wait, no you just don’t like it, but you would eat it if you had to, if I remember right?” Newt turned, looking at him.

 

“Yes, but I feel like I want fish now. So can we change the menu to fish?” Hermann nodded seriously. He moved to the fridge and then glanced at it, pulling out some cod. He waved it at Newt and set it on the table. “Make that,” he demanded.

 

“Fine. You’re lucky I know how to cook fish, cos you obviously wouldn’t know how,” laughter filled Newt’s voice as he turned and put the uncooked chicken away for a later date and started on frying up the fish. Hermann watched, tails slowly starting to wag as the cooking neared its completion. By the time Newt finished, Hermann was quite ready for late lunch/early dinner.

 

“Smells delicious. _Wonderful_ ,” Hermann said before digging in. Newt looked at him before eating as well. Neither man had to say much of anything while they happily ate.

 

When they were both nearly finished, Newt spoke again, “Think you wanting to eat fish is part of our Kaiju-ification?”

 

“Possibly. But if it isn’t, I will just attribute it to me enjoying your cooking,” Hermann said in between bites of food. He grinned, baring his sharp teeth as he did so, “It did taste quite delicious, after all.”

 

Cleanup was also a shared duty. Since Newt cooked, it was Hermann’s turn to clean up. He busied himself over the counters and the sink, cleaning everything. He abhorred dishwashers, and always hand washed everything. His excuse was that he felt nothing could be clean until he was sure he saw it clean himself. Newt just stuck everything possible in the dishwasher and that was that.

 

Hermann dunked a plate under the water and then paused to look at his non-Kaiju-ified hand. He carefully placed the plate down and then turned to Newt, who was sitting at the kitchen table, and held up his hand. “AH! Ahh hah see?! I was correct in MY findings,” Hermann said triumphantly. He pointed to his held up hand, and the fact that the dark Kaiju skin was starting to creep up his hand, even as they watched. “It is going here as well!”

 

Newt looked at Hermann’s hand, and then to his own arm as well. He moaned pathetically and threw his arms down to his side. “I’m never going to get to show off the tattoos I have left,” he complained loudly. Hermann just gave him a look. “Oh, right right. Yay, something happened,” Newt waved his finger around in a circle.

 

“Quite. Well, when I finish with these, I will be investigating this,” Hermann said. He rolled his eyes at Newt and then resumed his chores.

 

While Hermann had his back turned, Newt looked at the dress he was wearing and then had an idea. He snuck over and then flipped up the back, and then ran off. Hermann let out a noise as if he had been inconvenienced in the worst possible way. When he turned, he saw Newt changing in the middle of the hallway and putting his kilt back on. At least he had gotten him to wear somewhat comfortable clothing for a short period of time. Hermann stared back at his tails, holding them up and twisting them around each other. He had gotten used to controlling them, instead of letting them knock things around as he moved.

 

“When I finish cleaning up, I will be going to tailor our clothing,” Hermann called out to Newt, turning back to the sink and continuing his cleaning.

 

“Oh? Oh yeah, ok. I’ll try to figure this out,” Newt waved his now-changing-arm around. Even as he did, the black crept up along his wrist. Newt plopped down in front of his computer, stretching his legs out and throwing them up on the desk. He wasn’t even sure what to do, despite saying he would figure it out. He just wanted to watch it happen and see the end results, and then maybe work from that, if he could at all.

 

After Hermann finished, he came out and sat next to Newt, looking at his arm. Both their arms had rapidly progressed into being fully changed, and the dark skin was starting to creep up their necks. Newt had yet to put on a shirt, but there was almost no need because the dark skin had covered up everything but their faces.

 

“Newton, you have gills,” Hermann said quite simply. He looked at the other and then leaned in. There on the sides of his neck were a set of three slits, webbed just slightly at the edges. Newt winced and then shrugged.

 

“Well. I figured somethin’ like this would happen,” Newt said, though he really didn’t. He threw his hands up and then grabbed onto Hermann. “We are turning into Kaiju. The next thing you know we’ll wake up with muzzles or mandibles or something else. If we lose the ability to this, I’m doing it one last time,” he said, and leaned in, kissing Hermann on the lips. It was a nervous kiss, one they held together but were hesitant to break.

 

Hermann nudged into the kiss just slightly, and then shook his head. He pulled away and held a hand against his head, “Hurts. Forgive me, Newton, a headache just came up and it is hurting terribly.” He wobbled as he sat, and struggled to stay up. “I think I-” he never managed to finish his sentence, however, as he fell forward, passed out. Newt squinted his eyes a bit and then carefully picked him up, carrying him to his room.

 

“Easy does it, buddy,” Newt said as he laid Hermann in his bed and made sure a pillow was under his head. “You rest.”

 

Newt turned and shuffled out of the room, finding he had a headache too. He almost staggered into his room and collapsed onto the bed, rolling so his head was tucked under his mass of pillows on his bed.


	5. Chapter 5

The two men slept for two full days, only occasionally waking up to move around the bed. Neither one tried to get up. The headache seemed to have turned to a full body ache, everything hurt, and the pain was nearly unbearable. On the second day, the pain subsided.

 

Newt rolled over in his bed and grabbed onto a pillow to rest his head on. He yawned and found that the yawn even felt odd. Probably from not moving too much. He reached over and put on his glasses, then got out of bed and shuffled over to the bathroom.

 

The inhuman shriek that came from the bathroom was enough to rouse Hermann from his slumber. He got up and ran in, only to stop and stare at Newt.

 

Newt had gone completely Kaiju. Long protrusions were on his head, looking vaguely like the Otachi’s horns. Short spines ran down his back as well, going all the way down to the tip of his tail. However, he still retained what seemed to be a human face. There was a slight protrusion, making it look like he had a small snout. Sharp teeth and a bright blue tongue were visible in his mouth since he was letting his mouth hang open in shock. Oddly enough, he still had hair, as well as still needing to wear glasses.

 

The same had happened to Hermann. He was also Kaiju. Over the time he had slept, large almost armor-like protrusions had grown on his arms and the sides of his thighs. Fins had grown on the side of his head, which were currently pulled back and down giving him a worried and shocked look in addition to his already shocked look. His jaw had protruded a bit almost giving him an underbite but instead it just seemed to be a bit of extra body armor, like on his arms and legs.

 

“O-Oh,” Newt said. His voice had a deeper tone to it. He reached up with a clawed hand and touched it to Hermann’s face. Hermann’s fins on the sides of his head fanned out to the sides as he was touched. Newt pulled his hand back and stared at it, then turned in a circle, glancing back at himself.

 

“You are a Kaiju,” Hermann said. His voice had also deepened. His body shifted as he twitched and then stared at Newt.

 

“I AM A KAIJU! I always dreamed of this day!!” Newt screeched in delight as he jumped up and down. This reaction was not exactly unexpected. Hermann rolled his eyes, but Newt missed this as he was caught up in his excitement, “I saw one up close and even drifted with one but now I get to BE one!!!”

 

“Yes, and you should be glad that we kept our humanity in our minds instead of turning into animalistic creatures!!” Hermann snapped and grabbed at him. “If we were dangerous in any way, we would have been long gone out of this home and attacking the neighborhood. A majority of our human DNA must still exist, keeping us as sentient, non-hostile creatures.”

 

“Oh right,” Newt looked a little upset, “But we’re not dangerous. Are we? I still feel like me.”

 

“Not that I can tell. Drat. If only we had any neural-monitoring equipment!!” Hermann paced a bit and then crossed his arms. He looked down at himself and felt a grumbling in the pit of his belly and sighed. “I am hungry. I will think better once I’ve eaten.”

 

Newt scoffed and then turned, wagging his tail as he stared at himself in the mirror. “You can go get breakfast started, I wanna look at myself!! Oh man, lookit my teeth! LOOKIT MY TONGUE! Blaaaah,” Newt lolled his tongue out. Instead of just being a tongue though, it was very long, blue, and had multiple smaller tentacles on the sides of it. He waggled it at Hermann who make an ‘ech’ noise and hurried out of the room.

 

Unfortunately for the two now-kaiju men, the nosy neighbor had been keeping tabs on them. When she heard the screech, she stopped everything to look and was terribly alarmed to see two creatures stomping around the home. She immediately called the authorities.

 

Meanwhile, Newt had finally stopped admiring his new looks and was running around the house on all fours, shouting, “Look at me Herm! Look at me!!”

 

“Calm down, yes, I see you. You’re like a child,” Hermann scoffed as he turned and finished up the eggs he was scrambling for breakfast. Thank goodness for grocery stores that were part of a delivery network. “Breakfast is ready, Newton!” Hermann called out. There was a thumping and skittering of claws and Newt came barreling in the room and jumped into the chair, waiting entirely too eagerly. The adrenaline (or whatever Kaiju systems had) was still running high, making him fidget in the chair.

 

Hermann turned with the plates in hand and then sighed and shook his head. “You are far too excited about this,” he said, “First, get some food in your systems. You’re running off fumes.”

 

“Yeah yeah,” Newt grabbed at a fork and started eating. Thankfully he felt there was no instinctive need to actually eat like an animal. Hermann sat down carefully and started eating as well. They occasionally glanced at each other, but nothing really needed to be said. Their feelings in their mental connection said everything. It had gotten even stronger than before.

 

“So hey, now that we’re Kaiju you think--” Newt spoke up as he finished his breakfast, only to be cut off by a loud bang at their front door. Hermann and Newt stared over towards the front, tensing up and worried. The bang happened again, and then twice more in succession. The front door was knocked down.

 

Loud shouting was heard from the front, and suddenly, men in riot gear appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. Both Hermann and Newt were stunned into complete stillness and silence.

 

“That’s them, take the shots,” one man ordered. A set of taser guns were raised and multiple shots were fired. The charges hit the two men in their necks and shoulders. Two thumps were heard as the two hit the ground, knocked out and occasionally convulsing from the amount of electricity that was surged through their bodies.

 

“What sick experiments were they doing in here,” one man muttered as others stepped forward to gather up the offending creatures, carrying them out to a Hazmat van.

 

\---

 

Hermann wasn’t sure how long he had been knocked out. He tried to put a hand to his forehead, only to find that he couldn’t move much of the rest of his body. He found, after a bit of moving and testing, he was strapped to a medical examination table, all of his limbs and even his tails held down by tight straps. He wriggled fruitlessly, dropping his head back onto the table. His fins twitched as he pulled them close to his head.

 

“Hermann, don’t move, you’re kinda locked down tight,” Newt’s voice rang out from somewhere behind him.

 

“Thank you, Newton, I would have never guessed,” Hermann’s voice was bitter and sarcastic. He hissed as he yanked at his bonds again, trying to get up.

 

“They said something about wanting to vivisect you,” Newt continued. Hermann couldn’t see him. If he could, he would see that Newt was curled up in the corner of a cage, with a large thick metal collar around his neck, and shackles around his wrists, ankles, and tail. These were all connected to thick metal loops on the back of the cage, keeping him mostly in up against the back of the cage.

 

“I don’t want to be vivisected,” Hermann stated coolly, “That’s a waste of resources.”

 

“Only you could make it sound like a chore,” Newt huffed. There was a clinking noise as he shifted the bonds around and moved so he could sit a bit further to the front of the cage. He put his head on his knees. “I don’t think any common surgery tools they have could break through Kaiju skin in the first place, but then again, who knows. These guys aren’t the PPDC but they could have gotten something from them...”

 

Hermann heaved a sigh and tried to tilt his head back to see Newt. He was frustrated when he couldn’t. He opted for trying to feel at their mental connection. He was pleased when he found it still as strong as ever, and took solace in the fact that he could feel the feelings of sympathy that Newt was having for him.

 

“Thank you,” Hermann said. “Though I don’t... Actually, just thank you.” He was about to brush off the feelings but realized that he did enjoy them.

 

“No problem,” Newt smiled to himself. “It’s the least I can do for us being... Here.”

 

“Where is here, anyway?” Hermann asked. “You said they weren’t PPDC...”

 

“The government probably. They were saying something about Kaiju cultists,” Newt shrugged, making his bonds jingle a bit. “Saying that we were experiments of theirs. Heh. If only they knew. Not like they could really recognize us.”

 

Both Kaiju-men fell silent for a bit as they let the gravity of the situation sink in. They were both trapped in a lab of a place they weren’t sure where it was. There was talk of vivisection, and who knows what else floating around.

 

Newt let a small sob escape his mouth as he hugged against his knees. “I don’t want to die here, Herm,” he whimpered. Hermann didn’t answer him as the feelings of sadness had overcome him as well, and he was silently crying.

 

They didn’t have much time to grieve however, as a group of men entered the room. They were completely unrecognizable, considering that they wore face masks and dark goggles as protection. They moved to each side of Hermann.

 

“Do they respond to anesthesia?” One man asked.

 

“We haven’t tried yet. It may take a much higher dose than a normal human,” another man said and forcefully fit a mask over Hermann’s face. Hermann struggled, his fins flaring out as he tried to pull away. He bared his teeth and growled, trying to bite at any hands that came close. Now was not the time to act like a respectable human.

 

“Stop it-stop it-STOP IT!” Newt shrieked from his cage. He could barely see what was going on, but it couldn’t be good. His shrieks intensified as he saw a few men raising sharp surgery tools up. By the time had managed to sedate Hermann; his body now laying passive on the table; Newt was almost roaring and hissing. They paid him no attention as he thrashed and howled while they started the vivisection.

 

“Hm,” one of the scientists made a noise of interest as they just managed to pierce the skin on Hermann’s abdomen, but instead of actually managing to open up the cut, the flesh merely knitted itself together.

 

“This is a bit of a problem, isn’t it?” another scientist almost laughed out of frustration. “We can’t open them up but we can’t kill them. Them being alive is probably causing some freakish regeneration.”

 

Newt cackled and pointed at them, “See, that’s what you get! Fuck off!” But he was ignored as the men furthered their attempts to cut open Hermann and see what was going on inside his body. Newt watched as they nearly succeeded but… it was revealed that their blood had turned into the infamous Kaiju Blue. The tip of the scalpel dissolved and was rendered harmless and useless.

 

“Tch,” the man holding it made a noise of disapproval and tossed it into a trash bin nearby. “We can’t cut them open and when we do, that annoying blood of theirs dissolves it.”

 

“The brass aren’t gonna be happy that we’ll be moving right on to the behavioral experiments before we can even get any information on how they work,” one man sighed and put a hand to his forehead. “I’ll explain it. You and you, get that one back into its cage and chain it up. We don’t want it to wake up and cause problems.”

 

“Yes sir,” the two men called out chorused together and started unhooking Hermann’s unconscious body from its straps and moving him into a cage opposite to Newt’s. Newt pressed up against the cage’s side. Some of the men laughed, calling him pathetic looking as he barely could move and was still trying.

 

The lab fell quiet as the rest of the men left. Soon the two handling Hermann had locked him back into place and left as well.

 

“Hermann…” Newt gripped the sides of the cage, his claws scratching just slightly at the metals but not being able to even make much of a dent in it. He sat, watched, and waited however long it took for Hermann to finally wake up.

 

“Oh… Oh goodness,” Hermann moaned pitifully as he shifted his arms just slightly. He blinked slowly, body reeling as it recovered from the improper way to wake up from anethesia. The scientists likely did not care, since his body was so unresponsive to their first tests.

 

“Hermann!” Newt cried out, tail wagging slightly in its chain as he saw him moving.

 

“Newton? Ugh, those scientists didn’t actually do anything to me,” he said, “I could see it. Almost through your eyes. I… believe it was the Kaiju hivemind in effect. You were quite upset though.”

 

“Well, yeah. They were trying to cut you open. Of course I wasn’t happy about that,” Newt said. He hung his head, pressing his forehead against the bars of the cage. “I don’t want to be here. I want to go out with you and just be safe in our house again.”

 

“I know, Newton,” Hermann said softly. He watched the other and then eased himself to lay down in the cage as well as the chains would allow. “Please, let me have rest. I do not feel well.”

 

“Kay, Herm,” Newt said. “I’ll do the same. I am gonna try to see if I can reach you in the hivemind drift thing we got going on. Maybe that’ll give some comfort.

 

Hermann merely made a noise of agreement as he shut his eyes.  

 

Both Kaiju men settled down, bodies shivering just slightly as they tried to get some rest, mentally preparing themselves for what was to come.

 

\---

 

It was hard to tell how much time had passed while being trapped in the lab. It had to be at least a few weeks, but the lab techs were depriving the two of food purposefully. It made them weaker and thus, easier to control. Food became a wary reward, because while it was food for sustenance, it was often drugged.

 

“You want some food, you freak?” A scientist laughed as he moved a bowl in front of Newt’s face.

 

“Give it to me,” Newt hissed as he lashed out and tried to grab it.

 

“Don’t antagonize him, Newton, he won’t feed you if you do,” Hermann cautioned him. While the scientists knew they talked to each other, they usually paid them no mind.

 

Newt’s spines on his back rose as he grabbed again, “But I’m hungry. I want it. Now!”

 

“You will sit like a dog, wag your tail, and go ‘bark,’” the scientist grinned as he tried to humiliate the Kaiju man.

 

Hermann was shocked to watch as Newt leaned back, heaved, and then spat acid at the scientist’s face. The scientist screamed in pain. Newt scrambled as he grabbed at the food that fell and tried to eat as much as he could. The scientist retreated back to a nearby eye wash, hurriedly trying to wash off the acid.

 

“I didn’t know you could spit acid,” Hermann stared at him.

 

“I dunno,” Newt tossed a handful of the processed meat to Hermann, who gratefully accepted it and ate up as well. “Hurry up, they’re gonna be back soon.”

 

Almost on cue, the bulk of the staff came rushing in. Newt was restrained. Hermann, since he was merely eating, was held at the threat of being tasered.

 

One of the scientists started cussing in a foreign language that neither man could pinpoint in the chaos. Another man came forward with something sinister looking, and mostly made of rubber and metal. They fit it over Newt’s face, and locked it into place. It was a muzzle, and it seemed to be made exactly for him. Perhaps while the two were out one time, measurements were made in case of emergencies.

 

Newt struggled and let out a keening whine, starting to claw at it. It bent in some ways but it did not break. His mouth was filled with a rubber bar, serving as a large part of the way that it prevented him from even making much noise.

 

“You know we’ll have to feed this one by tube,” one of the men laughed, “What a pathetic thing. That’s what it gets for giving us sass.”

 

Hermann hissed angrily as he watched what was going on. His body tensed and shivered, but he eyed the taser kept at his neck out of the corner of his eye.

 

“Now’d be a good time to see if we could test those new needles we got,” a man said as he waved a hand over towards a box nearby.

 

“Alright, get ‘em locked down and we’ll get to work,” came the order.

 

The next thing the two Kaiju men knew was that they were being wrestled out of their cages and pulled off to separate rooms.

 

For all that Newt was afraid of, they had to act in on one of his worst fears. He was held back in a chair, and they seemed intent to study the fact that he could spit acid. A neutralizing spray was held above his mouth, spraying constantly. The new muzzle was carefully removed, as it was something preventing him from spitting, but also preventing his mouth from being inspected.

 

The liquid pooled around his face and he sputtered, his gills flaring out as he tried to deal with it. His mouth was held open and prying tools were held up. Rubber buffers were held up against his teeth, rendering the sharp bits useless.

  
However, they didn’t account for the fact that Newt’s mouth had tentacles. He struggled and focused, grabbing at something and covering it in his acidic spit. The tool melted partially, the spray not being able to stop the acid from corroding away so quickly. He made a gurgling noise of triumph. There were only a few more attempts before the scientists got frustrated, muzzled him once more, and threw him back in his cage.

 

Hermann was not faring well at all. He was strapped to lay on his front. His rear was held up high, his tails in a harness that kept them still. The scientists spoke of finding softer areas to draw samples from, and that just so happened to be the undersides of his tail, and in very specific areas on the back of his knees. Hermann wailed as he struggled, unable to move in the very embarrassing position he was in. Then the sharp pain came in. The needles were larger than normal, and multiple layers to protect them from being dissolved quickly in the dangerous Kaiju blue.

 

“N-nooo!” Hermann cried in pain as multiple samples were taken from the delicate undersides of his tails, right near the base, and at the back of his knees. He sobbed in pain, claws scratching at the table as he clenched his fists. “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts,” he repeated, voice pathetic and wavering.

 

“They worked!” one scientist said in triumph as they looked at the sample they got from his body. The blood was a brilliant blue, but almost tended to look purple in the right light. It seemed to be a combination of a human’s red blood and the Kaiju Blue blood.

 

“Quick, get it to the labs,” an order came fast. Most of the scientists left, leaving only a few to bring Hermann back to his cage, chain him up, and leave the two Kaiju men in silence.

 

Hermann dragged himself up in his cage and onto his hands. He hissed in pain, fins flaring out as he moved in a wrong way. He moaned weakly and moved over to drink water from the bowl that was placed on the side of the cage. They were treated just like animals in the ways that they were fed and given water, if they weren’t being taunted with it. He moved back and looked over.

 

Newt was reaching out to him in their connection. In the time that they had been experimented on and tested, they had forged the connection between each other in a much stronger way. They could hear each other’s thoughts, and sense each other’s current moods and feelings. It was a much needed form of relief. It was even more useful now that Newt couldn’t speak, the muzzle still being affixed firmly to his head.

 

/Hey, Hermy./ Newt said softly in the connection. /They tried to get in my mouth and my tentacles crushed their tools. Haha! They couldn’t even hold them down because they’re slippery./

 

/That’s good./ Hermann pulsed back. He also pulsed back some pain. /They are terrible scientists, they’re throwing away so many rules because of their hate for the Kaiju./

 

/Ohh, yeah I know. They… threw things at me when I was trying to get the food they set out. Said it was a game. Fifty points if you hit him in the head!/ Newt reached up and touched at his neck. /Something hit me in the gills and it still stings./

 

/Oh Newton. If I was with you, I would try to comfort you. Sadly, I’m not able to do that./ Hermann expressed absolute misery. Instead, he reached out in the drift and holds Newt there. It’s a more mental comfort, but it’s all he could manage.

 

Newt moaned pathetically, shaking his head. It wasn’t enough. He reached out through his cage, straining at the chains to try and reach Hermann. He started making soft clicking and chirping noises, Kaiju in nature, as he tried to get Hermann’s attention. Hermann looked up, expression softening as he saw Newt’s expression. His fins twitched just a bit as he moved up against the walls of his cage and reached through as well. Their hands were just barely touching, but it could have been the width of the world between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the wonderful Priellan of Tumblr ( http://priellan.tumblr.com/ ) for accepting my commissions and arting up the Kaiju boys themselves, and the scene that was the mental image for inspiring this fic.
> 
> http://priellan.tumblr.com/post/59013523046/a-commission-done-for-basslineraver-on-archive-of
> 
> http://priellan.tumblr.com/post/60307500185/another-commission-for-basslineraver-line-art-and


	6. Chapter 6

Months had passed since the two were first captured and moved to live in the lab. Life on the outside seemed like a dream. The two had decided that they would only talk to each other through the hivemind link, which lead the scientists to believe that they were becoming much more feral than before.

 

Each day became tortuous. Experiments were carried out with much less care for their well being than before, but their bodies recovered so fast that the pain was fleeting, but agony filled and sharp for the time that there was pain.

 

Newt rolled his head weakly to the side, muzzle clinking against the floor of the cage. Hermann looked over.

 

/You know what I miss, Newton?/ Hermann asked through their connection.

 

/Huh? What’s that./ Newt asked.

 

/I miss the blue sky. That was always something gorgeous./ Hermann’s internal voice was filled with layers of sorrow and pain.

 

/Oh… I can remember that. Y’think maybe one day we’ll get to see it again?/ Newt asked hopefully.

 

/I hope so./ Hermann hung his head and looked over as the other curled up into a ball, trying to get some semblance of sleep.

 

\---

 

A bit of worrisome news reached Tendo Choi, sitting in his position in the Hong Kong Shatterdome. It was being kept not only as a memorial, but as a place of readiness. If one attack could happen that shook the world, who knows what else could happen? Tendo looked at the report on his screen, the report stating that scientists Newton Geiszler and Hermann Gottlieb hadn’t been seen for a few months. He called the person that sent the report into him with an intent to talk to them about it.

 

“If it had only been a few weeks I would have understood. Maybe they went on vacation or something together. They did help save the world, after all,” the woman said. She was one of the K-Science team members, and so she was well acquainted with the two men’s actions before and after K-V Day. “But this has been months, bordering on a year. They’ve been gone far too long, and not even said hello to any of us. I know Doctor Geiszler kept in touch with a few people, but that contact tapered off quite a long time ago.”

 

“Understood,” Tendo nodded. “You are dismissed.” The scientist nodded and turned, leaving briskly. Tendo sighed as he pulled up files on the two scientists. He netted his fingers together and leaned on his hands.

 

It was time for some plain-clothes work.

 

Within the hour, Tendo was heading towards the home where the two scientists had taken up residence together. He was shocked when he knocked on the door only to find a woman answering that he had no clue who it was.

 

“Is this the residence of Dr. Geiszler and Dr. Gottlieb?” Tendo asked carefully.

 

“OH… You’re looking for the previous residents? They’ve been gone for a long time. We had a moving truck come and take out some of their junk a few months ago but they just upped and left,” the woman said. Her husband leaned in from the room nearby, just looking to see who it was.

 

“I see. Did they leave you any information on where they were going?” Tendo held his hand out as he spoke,  “Anything at all? A name, a place?”

 

“We didn’t even speak to them. They were gone long before we came to the house. When it was noticed that they weren’t paying, the bank came in and tried to foreclose but found nobody there. Then the house went up on the market and we snatched it up!” The woman said in a proud voice.

 

“Ah. Well, thank you for your time, ma’am,” Tendo put a few fingers to his forehead as if he was tipping a hat. He turned and walked down the path, sighing. If the straightforward path wasn’t going to give any answers, he had to go a little shadier, to somebody that had all the answers and didn’t care how he got them.

 

\---

 

“You want what?” Hannibal leaned back in his chair.

 

“Information on Hermann Gottlieb and Newton Geiszler,” Tendo said confidently. He wasn’t going to let the black market man sway him.

 

“Can’t help ya. Not that I wouldn’t, I kinda owe you guys. But… I don’t have any information anyway,” Hannibal shrugged. “Those two disappeared. That’s all I know.”

 

“Fine. Thank you for your time,” Tendo said. As he turned to leave, one of Hannibal’s underlings came past him. Tendo walked just a bit slower as he aimed to hear what he may say.

 

“Boss, that lab needs more reinforced needles and specialty tools. Those Kaiju experiments they got are causin’ them problems,” the man said.

 

Tendo turned back once more, raising an eyebrow, “Experiments?”

 

Hannibal swore, groaned, and then shook his head at the underling, who walked off knowing he had screwed up. Such dealings weren’t really meant to be heard. “Yeah, these scientists over in a lab… _somewhere_ … have gotten a hold of what appear to be Kaiju experiments. We can only guess some cultists were dabbling around with them. They’re coming to us for tools,” Hannibal said.

 

“Is there any information you can give me on these scientists?” Tendo asked. Hannibal gave an overdramatic shrug. Tendo rolled his eyes just a bit and then slid over a nicely wrapped stack of bills. Hannibal snatched it up, flipped through it quickly and then nodded.

 

“Here’s what I got. That’s the lab address, what they have specializations in, the roster of approved staff who can request form me, the staff that can’t contact me, and that last part of the dossier has their home addresses,” Hannibal opened his desk drawer and pulled out a thick file, held together by a clip. He tossed it to Tendo, who nodded. Of course a black market dealer would have extensive information on his clients.

 

“I thank you for your time,” Tendo turned, this time leaving for real.

 

He hurried to his car, then sat down inside and locked the doors, giving the dossier a look over. Tendo was hesitant as he looked over the list, seeing some security personnel that were cleared to use weapons. If he wanted to get in, he’d have to have somebody do it for him. He was much too well known by now, with taking over PPDC operations putting him in the news for quite a bit.

 

Without hesitation, he went to the scientists that worked with the two, enlisting them to go try to get into the lab. Armed with tiny cameras and recording devices, three people went in. A few days later when they came back, they looked shaken up and upset.

 

“Mr. Choi. What we saw was… Well you have to see it for yourself,” one of the male scientists said as he hooked up his camera to a nearby computer and started up the playback.

 

The video was shaky at first, as the camera was mounted on the side of the recorder’s glasses. He turned and stopped to look at the two cages set up at the back of the room where there were two very obviously Kaiju creatures held on lockdown. One had a muzzle tightly clamped over its mouth. They both looked angry and tried to be threatening at the new presence in the lab. As the recorder stepped closer, it was visible that both Kaiju had human-like hair, and then when the focus came in, those hairstyles looked familiar.

 

It was Hermann and Newt.

 

As the recording went on, and moved closer to the cage Hermann was in, Hermann tried to lash out, reaching through the cage to try to claw at the closest human. His fins were flared out and he was baring his teeth, though his bulky lower jaw hid most of it. The scales on his back were raised as well, as he was trying to make himself look threatening. One of the scientists came forward, punishing him for his outburst. A strong taser was activated against his neck and Hermann fell to the floor, convulsing and screeching in pain before curling into a ball with his back to the room. Newt’s distressed keening then filled the recording, which turned to look at him. A scientist was teasing him, holding the taser dangerously close to his face and laughing. Knowing that the taser was used to subdue and generally cause pain, Newt was straining against the chains that held him in place to stay away as far from it as possible. The recording ended quite abruptly at that.

 

“That’s… What we got for the day, sir. After that, they had us cataloging samples and we couldn’t get any more recording,” the female scientist said. She looked ill as she sat down in a chair across from her colleague, who patted her hand. “I heard them screaming though. They were in pain. Some scientists… They tortured them for fun. Maybe out of malice. Either way, this is not right.”

 

“If you would be so kind, to continue to report to the job while I determine what to do,” Tendo asked. The scientists looked mildly upset but all three nodded.

 

“Yes sir,” they chorused.

 

“Thank you,” Tendo sat back in his chair, looking at the information given to him by Hannibal, and then to the screen. When the scientists left, he watched the footage again. It was just as painful to watch it as the first time, but this time he paused it to identify those that were indeed identifiable. He made careful notes next to the names in the dossier and then stared at it.

 

Tendo turned to the comm system and started making calls.

 

\---

 

Finding people to help rescue the K-Scientists was very easy. Those in the PPDC knew that they were a key to saving the world, and gladly volunteered. There were many supplies still left over from the war days, so they were easily used for getting ready to deal with what could be waiting for them in the (possibly illegal) lab.

 

The scientists still continued to bring back footage of the trapped Kaiju men. They even found some footage from before they had arrived through the security cameras. None of the footage was pleasant to watch.

 

The first footage uncovered from the camera’s history was nothing less than torture.

 

The scientists had both of the Kaiju men pinned down to medical tables. They were sedated but still awake, so it had to be a very light sedation. The scientists worked diligently, starting to carefully open up their abdomens. Large metal clamps coated in what looked like a rubbery substance around the edges were held on the side, holding back their flesh that tried to seal up. It was at that time when the two started to scream in pain while their bodies were so carelessly treated and investigated. Parts were moved around, nerves were tested, and worst of all, they could feel every part of it. The footage had poor sound quality but their noises of pain still were clear enough.

 

Tendo covered his mouth with a hand and fast forwarded through the footage until the vivisections were done. He stopped momentarily, taking a note on who he saw and letting the footage run. The two were put back in their cages and left to heal. Hermann let out a pathetic screech and rolled to his back, trying to let the incisions face upward and heal faster. Newt chose to curl up on himself and protect his open wounds.

 

“Ugh,” Tendo groaned and shut the recordings off. Every time he watched one, it always left him feeling upset for something he was trying to fix, and fixing it couldn’t come soon enough.

 

Tendo had very little hope for these men surviving when he found out who they were.

 

The last recording he chose to look at had a ‘positive’ tag to it. He started up the recording.

 

“Hey… Hey it’s just me, are you awake,” A female voice called out gently as a scientist came into view of the cameras. Both Kaiju men raised their heads and looked surprisingly happy. The scientist went over to Newt’s cage. He approached the woman, letting her run a hand through his hair and then remove his muzzle. She moved over to a table out of view and brought back two cups of what looked like microwavable soup. She placed the soup in each of their cages.

 

“Here, today it’s broccoli and cheddar. I have some bread too, if you’d like,” she said while sitting down in front of the two cages. She watched as the two ate the soup, making soft noises of happiness as they did so. The tips of Hermann’s tails wagged just slightly as he ate.

 

“I might not be able to make it in tomorrow, they’re having me go to the west hall to work on some theorems,” the female said. “All done? You know I don’t like having to do this, but I do say this every time.” She took the cups and then carefully placed the muzzle back on Newt. He gave her a sad but knowing look. The woman patted them each on the head once more, Hermann even leaning into the pat as she did so.

 

Tendo couldn’t help but smile as he watched. So there was good left in some of the people there. He carefully took note of the woman and her appearance. If he could, he would personally thank her.

 

He shut down the terminal and sat back, looking at the list that was slowly growing larger. The list contained all the scientists that were committing harmful acts towards the two men. There was a much, much smaller list to the side of those that were kind towards them. It only contained two names. The scientist that he just watched, and a male scientist that carefully bathed the two men. Their physical conditions were terrible and they were often left in their own waste, so a man that went out of his way to help clean them up was indeed good.

 

Tendo turned back to a tablet computer, working on a roster of those that were willing to help break into the lab and bring the two to safety.

 

\---

 

Newt put his head on his knees, laying his tail across his feet as he did so. He watched as Hermann pressed his face up against the cool metal of the floor of his cage. Hermann was sick. It was something they both weren’t sure about, but Hermann expressed feeling hotter than normal, and having an upset stomach. Obviously the scientists didn’t seem to care that one of their specimens was sick. Instead they had monitored him to see what would happen while he was sick.

 

/Hermy.../ Newt reached out through their connection and tried to send feelings of comfort.

 

/H-hot. Hurt. Pain. Sick./ Hermann moaned pathetically and thrashed a bit, trying to find a position that eased any of the pain in his abdomen.

 

They both tensed as the door of the lab opened. Though they couldn’t see much of outside, they knew most of the scientists went home. It was quiet and they were allowed to rest.

 

A man stepped in and tilted his head a bit as he looked at the two. Without a single word, he went over to Newt’s cage. Newt hissed at him but couldn’t find it in himself to do much else.

 

“Shh!” The man held a finger up to his mouth as he reached forward. “You want to comfort you friend, don’t you?” Newt hesitated, worried that this was another trick and the scientist was going to end up beating him if he got close. But there was literally nothing to lose, so Newt nodded and pointed over at Hermann insistently. The man carefully reached in and undid the chains holding him against the wall, but not the ones around his limbs. They were held by multiple special locks. Then the man turned and went to the door of the cage and opened it.

 

Newt hesitantly crawled out on all fours, then stood up for what felt like the first time in ages, and hurried over to Hermann’s cage. The man quickly undid the chains for Hermann and opened his cage door as well. He then went to the lab door and barricaded it shut.

 

Hermann looked up at Newt, blue eyes glowing just a bit brighter as he realized that they were being given a chance to see each other. He held up his hand to Newt.

 

/Oh… Newton… This man is risking much for us./ he said. Newt nodded and laid down next to him. They shared a careful hug. Hermann pressed his face against Newt’s shoulder. /My stomach does not hurt as much./

 

/That’s good! I’m a feel-better kind of guy huh./ Newt’s tail twitched a bit as he wrapped it around Hermann’s tails and held himself close. Nothing more needed to be said in their connection, only feelings were shared. They were thankful for the chance to see each other.

 

The man sat nearby, just reading a book while he kept a careful eye and ear out for anyone coming close. He got about partway through when he stood up.

 

“I don’t want to do this, but I don’t want to risk you two being killed or… Me being killed… For this. You’ll have to go back,” he said. His voice was filled with sorrow as he spoke, and he almost teared up. Newt and Hermann both looked up at him, blinking slowly.

 

/We can fight him and overpower him…/ Newt pointed out.

 

/And then face what is on the other side of those doors, and get ourselves killed, or worse…?/ Hermann shook his head and then sat up.

 

/Oh… Well I would say we don’t have much to lose but I don’t want to know what else they could do to us if they get mad at us./ Newt sat up as well and then slowly went back to his cage, sitting down and looking downtrodden, but accepting.

 

Hermann turned to the man, “Yes. We understand,” he rasped quietly. The man looked shocked that he could talk. He wasn’t aware that they could, since it had been almost a year since they had.

 

“I’m so sorry,” the man said meekly as he chained them back up and then took a moment to make sure there was no evidence left of his presence. “I want to let you two know… We’re not all bad. There’s a small group of us that really don’t like what’s going on,” he said as he looked at them. The man let out an exasperated sigh. “But we don’t know what to do. But I promise you, we’ll be doing something.”

 

The two Kaiju men looked at each other, then settled back in. They had no reason to believe him, nor did they have any reason to not care.

 

\---

 

Not very far away, Tendo looked to the small army he had amassed.

 

“We’re going to get them back,” he said confidently. “And we’re going to do it tonight.”


	7. Chapter 7

The weather for the night of the rescue was completely cliche. It was a dark and stormy night, which meant it was perfect for moving under the cover of darkness, or making a bit of noise and still not being detected.

 

The squad leader of one of the three teams waited at the side of the building, by a supply entrance door. Their job was to secure the two men and bring them out safely. The second team was on the roof and moving in through the top stairway. They were there to protect the first team’s actions. The third was going straight in the front. It was their job to be the distraction and cause enough of a problem that any guards near the cages would leave.

 

The order to go came punctuated with a flash of lighting. Two men knocked down the front door with a battering ram, alarms screeched, and everything started happening at once.

 

Gunshots filled the air, followed by shouts of confusion from the mostly hired-guards. Screeches from other animals that filled the labs covered up most of the yelling.

 

The first squad leader reached the inner door of the lab, knowing that beyond the door was the cages that held Hermann and Newton. He paused at the door and heard yelling.

 

“This is your fault, you stupid shits, this is because you’re here!!” Followed by a shattering of glass and a cry of pain.

 

The squad leader nodded and with another man, he knocked down the door. A female soldier put her gun in and shouted an order for whoever was in there to stand down. There was only one scientist in the lab, one who was so very obviously drunk. He had his hands up as the guns were pointed at him.

 

The squad leader turned his attention to the Kaiju men in their cages. They were worse off than the recordings made them look. Newton’s ribcage was visible against his chest as he heaved nervous breaths, blue eyes wide and worried as he stared at the guns. Hermann’s cage was littered with shattered glass, and there were visible wounds along his back. It was evident the drunk scientist was throwing some lab glassware at him, despite him curling up and doing nothing more to defend himself.

 

“Get him in a cable tie and bring him out. Orders are to arrest as many as possible,” the squad leader nodded to the scientist. He approached the cages, where the Kaiju men were. They were both pressed up against the back of their cages, trembling and looking terrified at what was going on.

 

“We’re going to get you out of here,” the squad leader said softly as he opened up the cage door of Newton’s cage. Another soldier went and opened up Hermann’s cage. What they were not expecting was that Hermann lashed out, swinging his arm at soldier and digging his claws in deep on the soldier’s arm.

 

“SHIT!” the assaulted soldier reeled back as the Kaiju man roared and hissed at him.

 

“We can’t do anything if they won’t let us help them,” another soldier waved a hand at the two.

 

The squad leader looked pained as he nodded over. “We’ll have to sedate them. Get the tasers ready,” he said. At hearing this, Newton pulled back and tried to escape to the corner of his cage, and Hermann shrieked in terror. Their reactions were quelled instantly as the tasers hit, and they were knocked out.

 

“It had to be done sir, we couldn’t risk being hurt trying to save them,” a soldier said quietly to the squad leader. The squad leader looked over as two stretchers were wheeled in. The two were lifted up onto them, strapped in, and moved out.

 

“I wish I could torch this place to the ground,” the squad leader said as he turned on his heel to see the two on the stretchers out.

 

\---

 

Newt shifted slightly. He tensed when he realized he couldn’t move, and further tensed when he felt the muzzle off. That was never a good sign. He stared up at the white of the ceiling and didn’t recognize the room he was in. This was an even worse sign.

 

/Hermann!?/ He didn’t dare risk speaking in a strange environment.

 

/I can’t see you, but I can hear you moving. I am nearby, Newton,/ Hermann’s mental voice sounded shaky. /I am afraid./

 

/I am too… Where are we… Who were those men.../ Newt shivered as he tried to move again. He tilted his head just a bit to see the room a bit better. It looked like some sort of hospital room. He looked up and over to see a strange IV setup that was near and a tube that presumably lead to his body. Monitors beeped from all around. But it didn’t look like anything from before. It almost looked familiar.

 

/I do not know. I’ve only been awake for a short period of time. I cannot move very much, but I can hear you./ Hermann replied. He expressed his findings, noting the equipment near him was monitoring his vital systems. It had to be set up by somebody that knew how a Kaiju worked.

 

“Hermann? Newton? You’re awake,” a voice said from just outside their range of vision. It was a vaguely familiar voice which made both Kaiju men search their memories, trying to figure out who it was. “I’m sorry we had to strap you down. You’ve expressed intentions of violence towards the soldiers and we didn’t want anyone hurt.”

 

The speaker moved into their views and Newt made a noise of confusion. It was Tendo Choi! They stared at him and Hermann gasped loudly.

 

“We rescued you. But you were lashing out, so we had to keep you still for the time being until we could determine if you were truly Kaiju or if you still had any humanity left,” he undid the straps from their chests, letting them both sit up just slightly. “I have confidence that you do,” he continued, “I know the men that helped us before are still in there.”

 

“T-Tendo?” Newt croaked, his voice sounding so very unlike his own from so much disuse other than cries of pain. Tendo nodded sadly, but tried to force a smile.

 

“It’s me. I promise. You’re not having any sort of terrible nightmare. You’re safe,” Tendo said.

 

There was silence for a few moments before Hermann started sobbing loudly.

 

“Safe, we’re safe,” he managed to say in between sobs. Tendo nodded to him and then turned, waving in some staff members. They were K-science members, knowing how to deal with Kaiju bodies from years of testing and work. They were gentle. They undid the straps and helped the two sit up, but only slightly.

 

“You’re extremely malnourished, you’ve been given no chance to recover from whatever they did to you, and… We’re sorry,” one of the staff members said. He put his hand on Hermann’s shoulder, drying his tears with a cloth.

 

Newt finally started crying, breaking down completely as it finally hit him that they were indeed safe. A staff member sat next to him. She was gentle as she wiped away his tears as he wept. Much to her surprise, Newt curled up against her chest, enjoying the warmth of a human touch that wasn’t cruel. She looked over and then pointed at Hermann. “Sir, can we please move their beds closer together? They need it,” she said.

 

“We’ll move their life support equipment too, it won’t be a hassle,” the man tending to Hermann said. He didn’t even wait for the ok to do so, he started carefully moving the equipment so the beds could be pushed closer together. The female staff member tending to Newt did the same and soon the two were close together.

 

Newt rolled his head to the side, his eyes teary and unfocused. “We did it Hermann, we survived,” he cried weakly. Hermann met him halfway, their foreheads just touching as they held close.

 

“W-we survived,” Hermann repeated and shut his eyes. His fins drooped as he relaxed for the first time in months. Newt gave his cheek the tiniest of licks as he settled in as well, relaxing. The staff members backed off once they were sure that they weren’t going to move around drastically.

 

Tendo sighed in relief. “I’m sorry I didn’t act sooner,” he said as he pulled a sheet up over the two. “You get rest. We will be monitoring you and making sure you can recover.”

 

“Mmnh,” Newt nuzzled his head against Hermann’s and shut his eyes. He seemed more intent on resting peacefully than caring about much else. Hermann let out a low, happy rumble and did the same.

 

Tendo walked quietly out of the room, watching the staff members busy themselves with keeping the two stable as he left.

 

\---

 

“You can talk. We aren’t going to hurt you for doing so.”

 

Newt curled up under the blankets, pulling the sheets up slowly to his chin. He was thankful for being rescued, but he still was hesitant and worried. A year and a half of torture and experiments left both himself and Hermann broken, pathetic, and unable to trust anyone completely.

 

The nurse looked at him. She was one of the K-Science team that volunteered to take care of the two. She was currently taking care of filing down the claws on Newt’s feet while he nervously watched. He had scratched himself often while he was resting, and they asked if they could file them down. He only nodded in response.

 

Newt shrunk back, ears twitching just slightly as he looked down at his claws. It did feel good to have a lesser chance that he would tear up the bedsheets and his own skin while he rested.

 

/Hermann it kinda tickles,/ he said.

 

Hermann looked up and over at him, resting quietly in his hospital bed and reading a book. He was hesitant to speak as well, though like Newt, he knew they were finally in a safe environment. /I know it does, the bottom of your foot is still a sensitive area. And considering that you walk on your toes and not the front and heel of your foot, it’s softer as well,/ Hermann explained. Newt snorted at him and expressed a feeling of already knowing that. Hermann furrowed his brow as he set the book down, looking over at his friend. /If you want to distract from that feeling, I know what can help./

 

/Oh? What?/ Newt cocked his head to the side.

 

/I challenge you to speak to the woman helping you then,/ Hermann looked over. /If you speak, I’ll speak./

 

The two looked at each other, a jumble of feelings shared between them. Newt looked over, the tip of his tail wagging as he did.

 

“Thank you,” Newt said softly, his voice crackling and sounding almost like a hiss. He looked at himself like he couldn’t recognize his voice and then tried speaking again. “Tickles. Feels ticklish there,” he points.

 

The nurse looked up at him, smiling as she did so. “Does it? I’ll be sure to be more gentle next time,” she said as she gathered up her things.

 

“Me too later. Please,” Hermann spoke up as well. The nurse looked even more delighted to hear him speak. She hurried out and told the supervisors.

 

“I sound… Terrible,” Newt sighed and carefully put his hands up to his face. He winced a bit and had to shift the arm that had the IV in it before looking over at Hermann.

 

“You barely have spoken in a year… Other than screaming,” Hermann said carefully and slowly. He looked around and then pushed at the call button a bit too eagerly. Outside the room, rapid buzzing was heard and a nurse mistook it for something wrong. He hurried in and looked at them.

 

“Hey guys, are you ok?” he asked, holding his hands palm up and out towards them.

 

“Water?” Hermann asked softly. The nurse’s eyes widened and he nodded.

 

“Oh of course! Hang on, I’ll get you a pitcher and some glasses. Then you can have as much as you need,” he turned and hurried out. Hermann and Newt looked at each other, smiling as they heard the man yelling to the others as he left. “Hey GUYS! Guys they’re talking!!”

 

“Hope this is… Good first step,” Newt murmured as he pulled the blankets back up to his chin and pressed into the pillow.

 

Hermann moved one of his tails over and nudged it against Newt’s foot. He wrapped it gently around his ankle and then settled in as well, waiting for his water.

 

The nurse returned, pushing a cart with not only a pitcher of water and glasses, but other drinks and some food as well. Newt nearly screeched with delight when he saw one of his favorite foods, a very small serving of chocolate cake topped with extra foamy whipped cream.

 

“For us!?” Newt pointed excitedly at the cart.

 

“Well, you’re making progress,” one of the head doctors said as he walked in. “We wanted to reward you for it and show we’re happy for you as well.”

 

“Ah-ahhhh,” Newt made grabby hands towards the treats. As soon as the plate was in range, he grabbed at the cake and stuffed it in his mouth. Hermann just watched him for a bit, taking a big drink of water when he noticed something else on the cart: Strawberry Cheesecake. His tails wagged and he leaned over, grabbing at the slice as well and ravenously eating. The portions were nothing too big, and they were no more than a slice, but it felt so good for the two to finally have something sweet.

 

Hermann felt tears sliding down his face as he ate, and he stopped. He rubbed at his eyes with his hands and looked at Newt, who was looking nervously at him, and then to the doctors who had a different state of worry.

 

“Am fine… J-Just so happy. Safe,” he said haltingly and in between trying to compose himself with deep breaths.

 

“We understand,” the doctor moved over to check on his vitals while he reacted, making sure he wasn’t over-exerting himself. When the doctor was content, he nodded. “We can leave the food here. We trust you not to eat too fast.”

 

“And we want you to get well soon!” the first nurse spoke up happily. “But there is no rush in getting better, go at your own pace.”

 

The two looked at each other and then Newt nodded, the tip of his tail wagging just slightly under the sheets. The doctors took this as a good sign, and were not pushing them any further than that.

 

\---

 

A knock at the door made Hermann look up and tilt his head to the side. He was reading once more as it helped pass the time as well as continuing being something he liked.

 

“You have a visitor,” the voice outside the door said.

 

“Ah, come in,” Hermann called out. He looked over and focused his feelings on the hivemind connection to wake Newt up. Newt startled a bit and let out a snort, eyes opening. He fumbled around for his glasses on the side table and looked around.

  
“What, what,” Newt grumbled as he rubbed at his eyes. “I’m up.”

 

“We have company,” Hermann waved his hand towards the door.

 

Herc Hansen came in, looking to them almost fondly. He was the current head of the military division of the PPDC. He pulled a chair over and sat down in between the two beds, looking at them. He shifted a bit and then patted Hermann on the leg.

 

“Glad to see you’re recoverin’,” he said. “I would have been out sooner trying to help you guys, but half the governments of the world were trying to shut us down. I was out trying to fight for the Shatterdomes staying open. I even was trying to reinstate the Jaeger program. Cos you know. Us sitting around behind a wall did so much good before.”

 

Newt laughed and shook his head, “The wall was a stupid idea before and it’s a stupid idea now.”

 

“Plus haven’t they noticed that some Kaiju were able to fly? If one came back we would be in terrible danger once more,” Hermann looked irritated at the thought.

 

“You guys are sayin’ exactly what I was telling them. How come they can’t see any logic but you guys can. Ugh,” Herc put a hand to his forehead as he sighed. “Anyway. We’re gonna be moving you guys out when you’re ready. You remember how there’s the crew complexes nearby? Everyone’s been alerted to what you guys look like, and you’ll be taking up residence there.”

 

“You mean,” Newt’s eyes glowed a bit brighter as he leaned forward. “We get to go to a home?”

 

“You get to go to your home. Your stuff had been repossessed but… We got it all back and it’s waiting for you there. Whenever you’re ready and the K-science guys clear you, you can go home,” Herc offered a weak smile. “S’the least we could do for you guys.”

 

Newt looked over at Hermann and suddenly, a mess of feelings exploded from his end of the connection to Hermann, making the poor man reel and have to lay back a bit. They were everything from being elated to wanting to cry and everything in between. Hermann took a moment to sort through the feelings and then reached over, putting his hand on top of Newt’s.

 

“Thank you, sir,” Hermann nodded to Herc. “We’re grateful for your help.”

 

Newt merely purred happily as he hugged against Hermann’s hand.

 

Herc grinned widely, finding that their happiness over the simple fact of being able to have a home was infectious. He got up, feeling a little more positive as he headed back out.

 


End file.
